Overview
Social media are internet-based applications that allow creation and exchange of user-generated content, and promote social interaction. They are characterized by voluntary participation, ease of use, immediacy, and reciprocity. Since their inception, social media have evolved from read-write websites like Wikipedia to read-write-participate sites like YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat etc., expanding our vision and creating new use cases.
Social interaction and maintenance of social relationships have been defined as core elements of successful aging. Therefore, it is not surprising that older adults (65 +) are adopting social media at an exponential rate. Every day, millions of older adults are able to connect and interact with their loved ones and other individuals through social media websites, in spite of their physical limitations and life circumstances. Older adults may even leverage their social connections to solve their everyday challenges, improve their wellbeing, increase their knowledge and find a sense of purpose. Despite social media’s potential to improve older adults’ quality of life, our understanding around their use and impact in older adults remains underexplored. We believe that this topic warrants a thorough and deeper study as we are expected to be inundated with the task of caring for an unprecedented number of elderly in the near future. Social media may be a solution to this upcoming grand challenge.
Social interaction and maintenance of social relationships have been defined as core elements of successful aging. Therefore, it is not surprising that older adults (65 +) are adopting social media at an exponential rate. Every day, millions of older adults are able to connect and interact with their loved ones and other individuals through social media websites, in spite of their physical limitations and life circumstances. Older adults may even leverage their social connections to solve their everyday challenges, improve their wellbeing, increase their knowledge and find a sense of purpose. Despite social media’s potential to improve older adults’ quality of life, our understanding around their use and impact in older adults remains underexplored. We believe that this topic warrants a thorough and deeper study as we are expected to be inundated with the task of caring for an unprecedented number of elderly in the near future. Social media may be a solution to this upcoming grand challenge.
Held in conjunction with the Eighth International Conference on Social Informatics (SocInfo 2016), Seattle, Washington, USA
Full, short and demo papers due October 15th, 2016 (deadline extended)
Original manuscripts should be submitted in English in pdf format through the EasyChair. The manuscripts should be formatted according to Springer LNCS paper formatting guidelines.